Friday, August 12, 2011

Hold On

It is recorded in scripture that Jesus described the road to hell as wide. He stated that many will go down that road. He also stated that the road to life is narrow and that "few will find it." If we really ponder those words we should be alarmed. What road are we on? Are we embracing the world or seeking God? One might answer, "I am doing both, and what could be wrong with that?" Well, you know, Jesus said many things about the world, and always seemed to come back to the same point: Don't love this world. Don't be "of it." The world would have us accept many things which are contrary to what God wants for us.

We need to walk away from things in life that spawn ideas which will pull us in the wrong direction. It begins in a very subtle way, this strange pull. For instance, you begin to see things on television, depictions perhaps of things clearly immoral and rather than look elsewhere for entertainment you begin to focus. You get caught up in the plot and the storyline and point out that there is some merit based on some quality of a certain character or the end result outcome of things. Before long you're tuning in quite often and though you might begin by separating out the things you realize aren't good to see, it isn't long before with enough exposure that line gets blurred and finally a time comes when you're beginning to say to yourself, "Maybe it's just overreaction to things. The world obviously doesn't think it's wrong. It's probably okay."

Jesus explained the heartbreaking thing at work here. He said someone begins by coming to God with great joy, "receiving the word with joy." And yet the world can come in and "choke out" the understanding which was received. I believe that God's spirit continues to try and draw this person back to the place of knowledge they once had but there can come a point at which the world has such a place in their life, the wall is back up, and they're not hearing God. They're walking in another direction.

Old testament scripture states that there is a way which seems right to a man, but it's not, and it leads to death. God wants us to have life. God wants us to have life much better and much fuller than anything this world can offer. I'm not talking to people here who do not or have not known the saving power of Christ. The people of the world will not understand this thinking. They will not accept it. To them it's utter nonsense, and that is how they can identify themselves as "of the world," and separate from us. But listen, I am talking to people who do know, they have known. God called them and the understanding did not go over their heads. Listen, my brother or my sister, hold on. Don't allow this world, (which is passing away) to steal anything from you.